Welcome to our site!!!
You can find here some music we like from different styles:mainly new wave,80's synth-pop and some disco 70's, but italo,electro,lounge,nu-jazz and jazz are also welcome.
Feel free to share your music/ideas/reviews/photos/articles and your comments of course.They are always welcome and will be highly appreciated!
If you have any request just feel free to ask!!
Have a nice time in our blog !!

Friday, August 22, 2008

BERLIN

"Berlin was one of the pioneers of new wave and electronic music in the early 1980s."

"Terri Nunn rocks!!!TERRI NUNN AND BERLIN ..ONE OF THE GREAT LADIES OF THE NEW WAVE SCENE OF THE 80'S"

John Crawford:"When we met Jo Julian we decided to find a female singer, realizing that most European synth bands had that low male voice and that having a female voice might set us apart. Our first singer was Toni Childs. Toni worked with Jo Julian on the Information album and wrote lyrics and melodies for the most of the material on that album. "Overload", "Zone H", "Daddy’s Car" and a few others, were all written by Joe and Toni. Toni was not happy with the direction and wanted to do something different. She did go on to have a fairly successful solo career.When Toni left we actually put an ad in a local referral service looking for a female singer. Terri responded. She loved the music and we invited her down to our rehearsal warehouse in Orange County to meet with us and sing. The one thing that stood out about Terri was her memory. She knew every lyric to every song. I remember telling her how impressed I was by that and she responded something to the effect of, “I’m an actress, I’m used to learning my lines quickly.” She was very sweet and very enthusiastic. Terri stayed with us for a few months and then left. I believe she left because she was not comfortable working with Jo Julian, but I cannot be sure of that.A nice young lady named Lynn Healy (http://www.rightonrhythm.com/ror/sites/musicians/musician_details.php3?artist=155)replaced Terri. Lynn was a very talented person who lacked a little of what you might call musical “feel”.( Lynn have been nominated as the best Bluegrass vocalist in 2003).I remember one night at a club called Madame Wong's I actually had to nod my head at her to signal when she was supposed to sing every single line. A very stressful night for yours truly. Lynn was let go after a couple of months.On came Virginia Macalino. Virginia was a very energetic young lady from New Jersey. She stayed for a while but by then the steam was sort of running out for Berlin.After we had totally broken up Dan and I began discussions of starting Fahrenheit. During those discussions I mentioned to Dan that there were a few old Berlin songs I would like to record just so they would not be lost forever. The problem was we did not have anyone to sing them. Hey, why not call Terri?? It had probably been a year or two since we had spoken but she was willing to sing on our little four-track demos. I traveled to Santa Monica to play them for her. She enjoyed the songs and was especially taken with "The Metro". The other songs were "Tell Me Why" and an unreleased song called "Live and Learn". There was one other but I can’t remember which one. It might have been "World of Smiles"?????One afternoon Terri came down to Dan’s apartment in Fullerton, sat on the couch in front of the four-track, and sang the four songs. At the time Perry was Fahrenheit’s manager so we decided to play him the demo. He was quite excited. Perry decided to release "The Metro" and "Tell Me Why" as a single on his label, MAO records, and off we went. The single with Terri smoking on one side and me in the silly hat on the other side is that single. At that time (1981) KNAC in Long Beach was a very alternative radio station. They began to play "The Metro" and we started getting interest from some independent labels. We signed to a label called Green something (sorry ???) and as our popularity increased, mostly due to Richard Blade playing us constantly on KROQ, we began to get interest from major labels. On to Geffen, etc., etc., etc....and the rest is a small part of rock and roll history."

Terri Nunn:"Toni Child was the original singer in the band, and wanted to leave for a solo career. They auditioned people, and answered my ad. I had no experience, but they answered it because I said I wanted something original. Berlin at that point was the most original thing in music. Synthesizer music hadn't happened yet in America and was just starting in England and Germany. John heard bands like Kraftwerk and Ultravox and wanted to do that kind of music. The sound was like nothing I had ever heard."

Talk about the music scene in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Berlin was starting out.

Terri Nunn:"We had a lot of places to play, but we also had a lot of people laughing at us because we weren't what was going on at all. At that point it was power pop, and the big success stories were The Knack, the Go-Gos, and the Motels. Punk was still going on with the Cramps, the Zippers, and even the Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing the circuit we were playing. We got a lot of strange reviews, but we really believed in it, and got better."

How did your first E.P. (1982's Pleasure Victim) come about?

Terri Nunn:"We signed with a label just starting out called Enigma. They signed 2 bands their first year: Berlin and Motley Crue. Once the sales increased, Geffen came in and bought Enigma's contract. They were also just starting out, and were distributed by Warner Brothers. For us, that was huge, because they were small enough that we mattered. They gave us a lot of attention, because they didn't have that many bands, and that made a huge difference to us."

When the album was released, you were marketed as a sex symbol. Was that something the record label did, or was that the band's decision?

Terri Nunn:"It was our decision. It caused tension right away. I had no idea the kind of reaction that what we were doing would get. I know that the song "Sex" would get a lot of reaction, because I knew that hadn't been said before, but didn't know I would get so much (crap) for it; because I said it I would be labeled as an idiot, a puppet for John Crawford, as a bimbo, an airhead, a slut. All of that stuff came down on me, and I didn't handle it very well. Instead of just letting it roll off my back and continuing with the music, I was, "well, I'm a serious artist". I wore sweaters everywhere after that, trying to counter the opinions coming from the people responding to "Sex", which was stupid. It really doesn't matter if the music continues to be good."

You have songwriting credit on almost every song on Berlin's new CD, but in the first incarnation of the band, John Crawford did most of the songwriting. What was your role in the process then?

Terri Nunn:"With John and I, I think the reason we had so much success is I related so much to what he wrote about, and wouldn't sing anything I didn't understand or didn't feel in my gut. I understood, as an actor, the importance of bringing honest emotions to a situation that I didn't create, whether it's a script or a song. If I'm going to do somebody else's song, I better mean it. I better find something in my gut that feels what this song is saying. "Take My Breath Away", our number 1 hit, I didn't write either, but I got it, I understood it. I was going through it myself."(http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pop_music/94752/2)

"Berlin was formed in the Summer of 1979, jumping on the new wave techno pop bandwagon that was starting to permeate the music scene. The initial line up which included Terri Nunn as vocalist recorded a single for Renegade Records. The single featured "Matter Of Time" and "Overload". Soon after its release Terri Nunn left to pursue her acting career. She was replaced very briefly by a very young Toni Childs! But less than a month later, Virginia Macolino became lead vocalist. At this time they put out an album on their own label (Zone H Records) and were signed to I.R.S. Records in 1980. They only managed to put out one single for I.R.S., a reworked version of "Matter Of Time" with an instrumental, "French Reggae" on the B-side, before they broke up in early 1981... But they weren't idle for long..."(http://www.irscorner.com/b/berlin.html )

"In 1979, after recording their single Matter of Time at Drummer Dan’s home studio, it was released to the media. “We certainly got more airplay than what we had originally thought. It opened up a few doors for us to play at more shows,” Drummer Dan said. In 1981, Berlin released their second hit The Metro. “We figured by the third time, our release would be pitched to big record labels to see who would take it. No one did and so we paid for it ourselves.” Pleasure Victim was an EP with seven songs. This one sent Berlin over the top with airplay like they had never known. Their hit single Sex was the in-demand song of the moment.""On this date in 1980, Berlin released their first album, Information. The album included previously released single, "A Matter Of Time" and future single, "Fascination". The recording did not include singer Terry Nunn who had temporarily left the band to pursue an acting career. The replacement vocalist was Virginia Macolino. This album was only released in Germany which is not that odd for a band named Berlin...except the band was from Orange County, California."(http://thep5.blogspot.com/2007/03/berlin-information.html)

John Crawford: "“Matter of Time” was one of the first songs I ever wrote. It was written during the Jo Julian phase of Berlin, around 1979 I believe. I was listening to Ultravox and Gary Numan at the time and brought my love for both of those artists to the song. I have to give a lot of credit to Jo Julian for the very cool keyboard sounds throughout the song. Chris Velasco also added some very cool guitar parts.I don’t remember who sang it first. Toni Childs might have sung it first, but I don’t remember her doing so. We released it as a single, and Terri is on the cover of that single. She is the only one I remember singing it. If you look on the homepage of this website you will see in the far bottom right-hand corner of the collage is a poster listing some of our upcoming shows. It is in black and white and a little hard to see due to its old age. Anyway, that picture is the one we used for the single for "Matter of Time”."(http://www.crawfordmusic.net/_mb/viewtopic.php?t=162&view=next&sid=23189db0e228f4c1efb0787914cb7d35)

David Diamond:"The first "real" record deal. The local-band version of Berlin did get a deal with a fly-by-night company in Germany, but nothing other than a bad record came from that. Our first album, Pleasure Victim was the demo tape we'd recorded in those first few sessions. We were on no budget. The whole Pleasure Victim album, including the artwork cost just under $3000. That's including all of the recording costs, mixing, mastering, & artwork. So we were really, uh, economical (laughs). It was quite a return on our original $3000 investment. Pleasure Victim is still the largest selling debut EP in the world. It's at just under 900,000 units in the U.S. currently. "

MR:Who did you sign with after that?

DD:"Well, what we did was, we took the demo tape, or our manager Perry, took the demo tape around, and none of the LA labels liked it. They said, "It sounds European and that's not happening in America. Go over to Europe and try to get a deal." So Perry took it over to England, and they said "We already have too many bands that sound like this, and you're American and no one in Europe's going to listen to an American band unless they sound like Springsteen, or Billy Joel." So, discouraged, Perry came back to Los Angeles, and we kind of set our sights lower and thought, "Well maybe we ought to try to go for an independent deal. So we signed with an label here in LA called Enigma records. Enigma was kind of happening little label because they had signed Motley Crüe when nobody else would sign them, they had signed Ratt when nobody else would sign Ratt, and then they had Berlin. They went on to do good things. Anyway, within three months, they had sold 30,000 copies primarily in L.A. alone of "

Terri Nunn:"We didn?t realize at the time that [our music] was the start of what we now call electronic music. Berlin?s early sound has moved into so many different genres and morphed into industrial, trance and even electroclash. Bands like Interpol, Fisher Spooner and GoldFrapp are actually direct descendents of what we were doing. We were first inspired to create our sound from a couple of European bands ? Ultravox and Kraftwerk ? that were using these new kinds of keyboards that created very different sounds than those of a standard keyboard or piano. It created a whole new dynamic that we fell in love with and we just thought, ?Wow, that?s just amazing.?We figured that since those bands had male singers, if we had a female singer, we might have something that was different and unique even if it wasn?t as good. But because it wasn?t really happening here yet, it was hard. We were laughed at and people didn?t get it. At the time we came out, the exciting music that was being signed was by bands such as the Knack, The Plimsouls, The GoGos and The Motels. It was all skinny ties and a lot of upbeat, happy guitar stuff. The record labels just didn?t understand what we were doing. Luckily we believed in ourselves, kept going and got better as songwriters.Finally (laughs) it got to a point where a tiny record label called Enigma ? which was just starting out ? took a chance on us."

Terri Nunn:"Emotion. As objective as I can be, the only problem with electronic music is the barren nature of it. It’s generated by machines in a lot of ways; that’s pretty much the way to say it. It can sound very cold and my voice, for better and for worse sometimes, is anything but cold. God, growing up I lived on emotions. I had to learn how to be logical because I would react first with my heart and second with my mind and that can be a big problem. But in music and in that kind of music, it (the emotion) brought the warmth to that kind of music that it needed."

"Originally released by the fledgling Enigma Records in 1982 and picked up by Geffen in early 1983 when the lascivious novelty single "Sex (I'm A...)" started picking up radio attention, Pleasure Victim is a frankly exploitative little slab of synth pop cynicism, so baldly crass in its positioning of lead singer Terri Nunn as a sex kitten (posing her in the nude on the inner sleeve, listing her contributions as "vocals, bj's" in the liner notes) and lyrically obsessed with the seedy side of the Los Angeles demimonde that criticism becomes nearly beside the point. Lyrical obsessions aside, Pleasure Victim actually holds up quite well as a piece of early-'80s synth pop, with two very good tunes ("Tell Me Why" and "Masquerade") and one masterpiece of the genre, the gimmicky and atmospheric "The Metro," the one song where Nunn's limited vocal abilities are put to their best use. The other three songs (not to mention the tiresome eight-minute remix of "Sex" on the cassette and CD versions) are much weaker, but surprisingly, for a record that was completely unfashionable seemingly within months of its initial release, Pleasure Victim actually has more to offer than many might remember."(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0ifwxql5ldde)

"As I listened to all of this CD, I kept asking myself why I didn't buy this when it first came out in 1983! I'd always heard Sex played on the radio and never investigated further. This CD is a great example of early 80s rock, with poppy-sounding synthesizers out in front and of course, Terri Nunn's sensual voice. If you can get past the overplayed Sex (I'm a ...) and listen to the rest of this CD, you'll realize what an enjoyable listen it is. Nothing wrong of course with Sex (I'm a ..), but if you think that's all Berlin was, you're missing a lot. Songs like The Metro (Yeah!!), Tell Me Why, World of Smiles (*g*), and the title track all sound hot. BTW, the bonus track is an extended version of Sex and while it doesn't add much to the CD, it's still a hoot to listen to, especially the ending.Berlin only put out this EP and two albums in its original incarnation. The band reformed in 1999 with Terri back on vocals. I beleive they're currently working on a new CD. It will be interesting to see if it reaches the same heights and energy as this one did way back when."

"After cutting a single and breaking up, bassist and synthesizer-man John Crawford and lead vocalist Terri Nunn resurrected Berlin with a new lineup that included Dave Diamond and Rick Olsen on guitars, Matt Reid on keyboards, and Rod Learned on drums, although he only performed on the first track of their debut EP, Pleasure Victim, the remainder being done by Daniel Van Patten.The uptempo drum machines, sci-fi sounds, and swirly synths of "Tell Me Why" makes this a hallmark of early 80's New Wave. The sound is similar to one adopted earlier by Kim Wilde on her debut album. The title track sports a wall of synth and a more leisurely sound and BPM.The next three songs ended up on Berlin's greatest hits album. "Sex (I'm A...)" will definitely go in rock history as a controversial single right from the first lyric. This uptempo synth number with grinding guitar has in its chorus vocals traded between Crawford (?) and Nunn: "I'm a man-I'm a goddess/I'm a man-Well, I'm a virgin/I'm a man/I'm a blue movie/I'm a man/I'm a b-tch/I'm a man-I'm a geisha/I'm a man-I'm a little girl/and we make love together." What I'm seeing here is that a man is just a man, and the many fantasies and roles he conjures up of a woman. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the most-played track for most listeners. Although I never had the pleasure of seeing the video, it did also gain more notoriety of being edited for MTV. In the eight minute extended version, there are more drums and synths, but at one point, the music cuts off to just drums, nad then the line "I'm a sl-t." Was that there to wake the listener or was that a confessional? (JK)"Masquerade" has that "Kids In America"-type sound and the life in a late-night dance club, which has its incessant lifestyle and perils: "so they reached for tomorrow/but tomorrow never came." More pronounced keyboards feature in "The Metro," a bitter and sad retrospect about an encounter aboard a subway car.Sci-fi style zaps and Cars-style synths figure in the weird "World Of Smiles" while "Torture" is a slow ballad of someone dying for love with some stark imagery: "kiss me, kick me, feel my blood."A good first effort from the group, followed by greater things to come."

"If you like Berlin but haven't got this album, you might be disappointed by the rather cheap and raw synthesizer production on it. Berlin didn't hit the big time until "Take My Breath Away", but by then they were up to their third album and had taken on a mainstream sound. This was where they started. So what does it sound like? Well its new-wave power pop with borderline Hi-NRG overtones. The underground hit "Sex (I'm A...)" is bolstered with a chattering synth bassline that could have come straight out of Eurodisco. Funny, then, that the song is this hilariously macho and sexist rubbish about a woman promising to be everything a man could fantasize about...it apparently caused a stir at the time with it's explicit content but it just sounds amusing now: "I'm a little girl... I'm a hooker... I'm a goddess...I'm a one-night stand" are some of the lines poor Terri Nunn has to sing while the drum machine and percussion huff and puff away in the background. I have nothing but respect for Terri Nunn, she's a great singer and accomplished performer, so thank goodness that Berlin matured as each album was released and she was able to sing songs with a bit more substance! Actually, all the other songs on the album are probably better than "Sex (I'm A...)" lyrically, although they all have the same tinny synth backing. it works most of the time though, and it was definitely "the" sound of it's time. My favourite is the opener "Tell Me Why", but the slower songs are as good as the fast paced ones, with "Pleasure Victim" and "Torture" being fairly memorable songs. The weakest tracks for me have to be "The Metro" (too much bleep-bleeping and tin-pot bashing ) and "World of Smiles" (it just goes nowhere). Bear in mind also, that this is an incredibly short CD - and the inclusion of the extended version of "Sex" makes scant difference as it's a very unremarkable edit job."Still, it's fun to play, and Terri Nunn is already capable of stealing the show, even working with this rather adolescent material. The Berlin albums got better after this one, so think of "Pleasure Victim" as their way of just testing the water. "Each and every song on this album is a classic. They personify what 80's new wave was all about. It is a shame the real Berlin broke up after their third album...the new line up only contains Terri Nunn, whom I do love. The new group just doesn't contain the fire needed to make Berlin's signature style of music. Tell me why and The Metro and the best cuts on this CD....but every song is highly listenable and you will find yourself humming along then singing along then memorizing each song lyric. Definate MUST HAVE"

"Berlin emerged in the early 1980s, with the dawn of MTV. Fronted by the sexy and alluring Terri Nunn, the group initially charted with the techno-pop hit, "Sex (I’m A…)," which played off Nunn’s overt sexuality and a heavy use of synthesizers. The L.A. based group that began as a trio (consisting of Nunn, bassist John Crawford and keyboardist David Diamond) grew to the six-piece lineup featured here with the addition of guitarist Rick Olsen, keyboardist Matt Reid and drummer Rob Brill.Berlin gained their initial exposure from the release of an EP called Pleasure Victim. The EP went gold (almost unheard of for a release that is not a full album), primarily from the strength of "Sex (I’m A…),” and a steady diet of West Coast live shows.This concert was recorded between the release of Pleasure Victim and the band’s first full length LP, Love Life, which was cut the following year. The band one hears on this recording is still fairly fresh, and searching somewhat for their musical identity, but are certainly heading in the right direction. Highlights of the set include "Pleasure Victim,” "Sex (I’m A…),” and "When We Make Love.”It would still be a few years down the road before the band recorded a ballad called "Take My Breath Away” that would be ultimately be chosen as the love theme for the film Top Gun. This recording, made four years earlier in 1982, was originally done for the King Biscuit Flower Hour at New York’s legendary Savoy Theater. The group remained popular until 1987, when Nunn left to pursue a solo career and the band collapsed.(http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/dt/berlin-concert/20049621-599.html)

Notes:The US Festivals were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak of, at the time, Apple, Inc., and broadcast live on cable television. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983. Wozniak paid for the bulldozing and construction of a new open-air field venue as well as the construction of an enormous state-of-the-art temporary stage at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California.

Matt Reid:"One of the most intense parts of the reunion was the night before my interview, when I sat down to look at my photo collection. The tears came as I studied picture after picture of us being young rock stars in far-flung locales. I was particularly moved by the Polaroids from our first tour, a 10-weeker that covered the better part of the U.S.A. Rod Learned, the drummer, was my room-mate on that tour. I remembered Rod and me walking the streets of Philadelphia , San Antonio , Fort Lauderdale , experiencing the touring life with everyone for the first time ("Wow...a truck stop!"), and our crowning achievement, the US Festival."

John Crawford:"Hey, Andrew, the US Festival was very strange. I was never comfortable in front of very large crowds, and that was by far the largest. We also did a show with The Police, The Thompson Twins and The Fixx in front of about 50,000 people, and I was quite uncomfortable there, as well. I think it is the sense of not knowing how you are going over with the crowd. You can’t see faces, and the sound sort of disappears into the air.Let me explain, when you watch a band perform you will notice these big black boxes on the floor near each player. They are monitors, or speakers, that direct the sound coming through all the microphones back at the musicians. Believe it or not, I have played shows where when the monitors were off, I could not hear the sound going out through the main speakers to the crowd. Onstage you really rely on the monitors to hear the drums, guitars, vocals, whatever. The problem is the sound itself; it can be very sterile and sometimes out of balance. It can actually be quite depressing. You wonder if what you are hearing is what the crowd is hearing, and it sucks. I always enjoyed smaller venues where I could hear and feel the crowd, not only their energy, but also the sound of the band reverberating in the room.So, not only was I scared to death at the US festival (200,000 people and U2 coming on right after us), the sound was strange, and I was feeling more isolated from the crowd than ever before. Still, a great memory and something cool to tell the grandchildren. Having been a part of that show with U2 (my eighties heroes) and David Bowie (my seventies hero), wow!!"(http://www.crawfordmusic.net/_mb/viewtopic.php?t=85&sid=23efb5d2adabcfd928888e00d611af3b)

01 When We Make Love (4:59)02 Touch (3:16)03 Beg, Steal Or Borrow (3:55)04 Now It's My Turn (4:11)05 Dancing In Berlin (4:04)06 Rumor Of Love (4:20)07 Pictures Of You (4:34)08 In My Dreams (4:08)09 No More Words (3:54)10 For All Tomorrow's Lies (3:48)11 Fall (4:04)12 Lost In The Crowd (4:38)

Hailing from California, Berlin's early music was flavored with early '80s Europop. At the end of their career, the original lineup fragmented, and the band changed musical directions so completely, it rendered the group nearly invisible. Love Life fell in the middle, and represents Berlin's career peak, musically and commercially. Pop rock sex kitten Terri Nunn keeps it quiet during most of the album. Ballads "When We Make Love" and "For All Tomorrow's Lies" hover in a dreamy perk. Chart topping finale "No More Words" is an unforgiving rage channeled through Nunn's powerful pipes. --Beth Bessmer

"With their second album, Berlin started to hit their stride. The production on "Love Life" has grown up a lot since "Pleasure Victim", and we are in full MTV-friendly territory. Now it may sound like a criticism when a band lose their edge and start sounding mainstream, but Berlin need to mature a bit from their first album, and this one does a fine job of it. The opening track "When We Make Love" is so good that it's almost too tough an act to follow. Soaring and swooping vocally, and with a strong rocky/synth backing, it sets a great energetic mood for the rest of the album. Sadly, the second track quickly became my least favourite as it sounded like a failed attempt to match the power of the opener. Luckily the third song "Beg Steal or Borrow" knows better and follows a slow tempo, with the result that this is much more fun. Then we come to "Now It's My Turn", which finally makes a fitting challenger to "When We Make Love", as it's a terrific rock song with a very bitter theme centered around revenge. But even this is topped, further down the list after a few light-weight tracks, by "In My Dreams", which to me is the most perfect Berlin pop-song - beautifully gloomy in mood and tune, and another dark theme lyrically.Terri Nunn once again excels at wringing anger and bitterness out of the lyrics, the songwriting of the group really suits her singing style, and her later solo album was diluted by it's absence. The albums hit single "No More Words" makes good use of her vocal prowess - it's another anger-tinged number, although the backing music is a bit lightweight compared to some of the stronger album tracks.This is a great album, and it's made even better by the inclusion of two B-sides that were not on the original vinyl - "Rumour of Love" (ok this is poor, and Terri does not sing on it) and "Lost in the Crowd" ( which is good - strong enough to stand beside the better album tracks). It's even got a great classy cover shot! So it looks and sounds wonderful in any collection."

"Love Life finds Berlin honing their brand of upbeat synth New Wave into something more polished, and it's an improvement, although there aren't any songs that are risque as their notorious single from Pleasure Victim.The raciest song by far is the leading one, "When We Make Love," from the POV of a stripper or performer in a risque act, or maybe a starlet in a triple-X movie. If it's the latter, that's quite a twist, as she labels the viewer as her fantasy. I detect influences from Blondie's "Atomic" here.The extramarital affair on "Touch" tells it from the woman's POV, where she learns that her date's married, and asks him if he'll remember her, only not to hear from him. The casualness of the affair is given when she says "You can take me home and tear my clothes off." The rapid-fire synths and blaring guitar is something Quarterflash would appropriate on "Walking On Ice" on their Back Into Blue. One of the best songs here. A similar tempo and sound can be found on "Pictures Of You""Beg, Steal Or Borrow" is notable for having a synth rhythm which may have been taken from "Boogie Shoes" with a rhythm guitar like "Every Breath you Take."Another standout tune comes with "Now It's My Turn." What does Nunn have to say about a lover who's deserted here: "Now it's my turn/You hurt me then/I'll never let you hurt me again." A further warning to the perpetrator: "Don't think you'll get away/The pain has just begun." This was included on their greatest hits album.Giorgio Moroder's association with Berlin began here, as he and Richie Zito produced two songs. The first is "Dancing In Berlin" on the divisions between mysterious Communist East Berlin and open and free-spirited West Berlin, including the line "Please, there's no wall in front of you." The other is the Top 30 single "No More Words" featuring a funky bass synth backbeat while louder keyboards and electric guitars snarl. The concept of all words but no action backing those words leads to the title being sung, followed by "you're telling me you love me while you're looking away." Nunn sings of "looking for a long romance/not a picture of passion or one time chance.""Rumor Of Love" is notable in its being sung by one of the male members of the band, and his delivery along with the rhythm section makes this like a Cars song.The shakiness of people in love is behind the bittersweet and cynical "For All Tomorrow's Lies." Although the song extols pairs to stay together as one, but things aren't that easy: "They tell you 'try to have hope.'/And fight for all you can/these words, you've heard them before/so easy to believe." The version included on their greatest hits is a ballad remix that matches the gloominess of the song, and not the upbeat synth version here."Fall" is a low-tempo number of coming alive in love. The guitars here echo the sound Berlin would encompass in Count Three And Pray. The frantic, giddy tempo of "Lost In The Crowd" rounds out the album and it rivals the tempo of "Touch." It too, has the same hard guitar of "Fall" while remaining true to its New Wave sound.The definitive Berlin sound is demonstrated here, with the last two songs a hint of things to come. Before that, Berlin would emulate Genesis, read "And then there were three." Guitarists Dave Diamond and Ric Olsen would leave, as would keyboardist Matt Reid leaving behind original members Terri Nunn and John bassist/synth-man Crawford, and Robert Brill (drums). All they had to was count three and...pray."

"I remember when this album came out, back in 1984. I used to have to listen to it in private, due to the then-taboo subject matter it contained. It was always such a guilty pleasure (though tame by today's standards) which still sounds just as fresh and invigorating as ever (and is mixed rather well-complete with some excellent stereo effects).It opens with the mysterious "When we Make Love", which sets the stage for the wonderful production that follows. This track is about a woman who brings various men home for love-making sessions, and videotapes the events so that she can "remember all you whisper" and "see you on the screen forever". A concept that was way ahead of its time (for a pop tune). The reason the music still sounds fresh, in my opinion, is because it effectively blends dreamy synths, slashing guitars, powerful live and programmed drums which add up to a winning combination. Topped with the beautiful Terri Nunn's perfect vocals-this is Berlin at their finest. In this sophmore effort, Ms. Nunn effectively displays her maturity and proves that she has become a rather strong vocalist. "Touch", "Dancing in Berlin", "Pictures of You", "No More Words" and "Lost in the Crowd" are energy-laced uptempo numbers which inspire your hooves into a frenzy, while the rest of the CD sends you on a soothing, relaxing (yet never dull) journey through some of the various shadings of life's pleasures and troubles. "Now it's My Turn" (with brilliant lyrics portraying love as a metaphor for crime) and "In My Dreams" (a wonderful song about lucid dreaming/fantasizing about being with an otherwise unavailable partner "You could spend the night with me and never know you were here/in my dreams") especially display John Crawford's songwriting talents (where is he now, by the way?). Giorgio Moroder adds his magic production to "No More Words" and "Dancing in Berlin", which take Berlin's credibility to incredible heights (like he did for Blondie in the mega-smash "Call Me"). A favourite track that is thankfully included (previously a B-side that was not included on the old vinyl version of Love Life)is the gorgeous "Rumor of Love" which allows John Crawford to take on the lead vocal in a MUCH better manner than he did on Pleasure Victim's "Sex (I'm A...) and, by the way, this track DOES feature Terri singing (backup vocals). As a young man coming of age in the 80's, this song also provided me with hours of hope and fantasy about the love I would someday encounter. Love Life also showcases Terri's brilliant talent for arranging the disc's rather creative background vocals. It is a masterpiece!If you listen to this CD and find yourself wanting more Berlin, check out their latest offering "Voyeur". Although Terri is the only remaining member from the Original band lineup, it displays very strong musicianship and the best vocals Terri has offered to date! I just would like to know what became of the other band members: David Diamond, John Crawford, Rob Brill, Matt Reid, and Ric Olsen. There is no mention of them in Voyeur's liner notes.Love Life is a must-have, "desert island" disc that belongs in every music collection. Buy it today! It's a sheer pleasure from beginning to end! "

"Despite the overplayed popularity status of No More Words this was one atmospheric and moody synthesized production. That's a good thing . Berlin's Love Life project demonstrated they were true pioneers and leaders in the genre of new wave pop for the 80's...They were the poster-children American pop band for the musical world with their GQ and Vogue looks. Underneath it all there was genuine artistic skills and innovativeness that emitted through.From the earth bass synthesized rumbling of the opening track When We Make Love to the frenetically charged and provocatively produced Touch the listener is taken through a world of love,life, relationships,and yes, revenge all sleeked up by retro 40's stylish/noirish videos and album photos ! The Euro dance sound of Dancing In Berlin was a tribute to German synthesized pop a la Kraftwerk style. In My Dreams has to be the album's most catchy hook laden tune that harkened the seriousness of the song Pleasure Victim (from the album by the same title). The track Pictures Of You was pure MTV pop rock material for that time period along with it's California based New Wave West Coast sound.Finally, the ballads were warm and intelligible without becoming fluff fodder or filler;they maintained their warmth despite being heavily covered in the synth technology of the time...Love Life was Berlin's most popular album because it was a refined version of the previous mini EP Pleasure Victim and was not as highly experimental and distracting as their 1986 Count Three and Pray cd ! Love Life is the essential Berlin cd to obtain from the 80's..."

Notes:Recorded and mixed at One On One, Village Recorder, Producers I and II and Amigo Studios. Tracks 2 & 9 recorded at The Manor and Air Studios in London. Track 5 mixed at Oasis Studios. Tracks 3, 4 and 9 mixed at A&M Studios and Master Control. Originally mastered at Precision Lacquer. CDD Pre-Mastering by WCI Record Group.

"A major change of direction for Berlin, Count Three & Pray was an artistic triumph but a commercial disappointment. After making a name for itself playing very European-sounding synth pop, the L.A. trio recruited producer Bob Ezrin (known for his work with Alice Cooper and others) and unveiled a more hard-edged, guitar-oriented sound. From the rockin' "Trash" (which features none other than Ted Nugent — the last person one would expect to work with Berlin!) to the ballad "Pink and Velvet" (a tale of two heroin addicts' romance that is as poignant as it is disturbing), Count Three & Pray leaves no doubt just how much lead singer Terri Nunn and her colleagues were enjoying this radical change. But sadly, record buyers weren't ready for it. Despite the inclusion of the hauntingly pretty number one hit "Take My Breath Away" (included in the film Top Gun) the album didn't sell nearly as well as Pleasure Victim or Love Life. Geffen was bitterly disappointed, and Berlin soon broke up."(http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wifwxql5ldde~T1)

"In 1986 Berlin had a number one hit with "Take My Breath Away" from the movie Top Gun. Instead of propelling you forward, the band broke up shortly thereafter. How did that happen?Terri Nunn:"We were already having problems trying to figure out what to do with Berlin at that point. We were on the third record, and it was a mess. We were fighting within the band, mainly John and me, because we were the partners in the band and the people around us kept changing. He wanted to keep Berlin the same, I wanted to try new things. Now looking back, I don't think either of us was wrong. I think his idea of keeping the same elements was good, but I was so bored with doing it for 4 or 5 years and wanted to do new things. We just imploded. We couldn't agree. By the last tour, we weren't even speaking."(http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pop_music/94752/3)

Terri Nunn:"With "Take My Breath Away"our popularity exploded worldwide for the first time. We were pretty much situated here and we had very limited success in other countries besides America. There was a little bit of success in Australia, and New Zealand actually gave us out first Gold record?but in New Zealand a Gold record is like selling five copies. Then when ?Take My Breath Away? came out it was everywhere. It was number one around the world, so for the first time we had a shot at playing everywhere. That was huge for us, but the sad thing is that we were falling apart while we were having this breakthrough success. We didn?t even want to look at each other anymore. It was bittersweet. We did a world tour with Frankie Goes to Hollywood that took us to Europe and England in a huge stadium tour. It was amazing for us because we?d never done anything that big before. Then right after that we broke up. That was in 1987."

rja:what was your impression of "Take My Breath Away" as it was Berlin'sbiggest charting song?

Ric Olsen:"I think the song is a beautiful creation, but it is not Berlin. GeorgioMoroder, (the writer along with Tom Whitlock and producer), was writinga number of songs for the Top Gun soundtrack. He and Terri were quiteclose following the work with No More Words and Dancing in Berlin. Heasked Terri to sing on the song. It was not to be a Berlin song. This wasaround the same period that 3 of us had left and the group wascrumbling quickly. (Heck look at all the people used on Count Three). Asrecord companies are, they talked Georgio into allowing Berlin to be listedas the performer, (even though Terri was the only member on it). Inaddition, he also agreed to allow it's release on Count Three and Pray."

Fears:It has been very well publicized that the song “Take My Breath Away” caused strife between you and John. It apparently turned into a double-edged sword, of sorts. In hindsight, would you still record the song knowing the hardship it would eventually cause?

Terri:"Oh yeah, absolutely. It did so much good for us too. The strife was already there. When it came in, it was just one more explosion in so many ways because it opened up the world to us for the first time. Before “Take My Breath Away,” we were only known in America, Australia and Japan. Nobody else gave a shit. We couldn’t get arrested anywhere else in the world and then “Take My Breath Away” came along and it was an international number one hit. So for the first time, we were invited to play in many different countries that we’d never even been in before. So that was amazing. But when it came along, we also were in the midst of a third record at the time that none of us could agree on. We didn’t know where to take Berlin. We had already fired one producer, in fact finished the whole record with him, and threw away $300,000 worth of material that was not working. The record company was totally pissed and we were totally lost and then (producer) Giorgio (Moroder) came along with this song."

Fears:How did he come to offer you the opportunity to sing and perform the song?

Terri:"He had already done the song “No More Words” with us and he said, “I’m doing this song and it’s going to be in this amazing movie and it’s coming out next summer and you might be able to sing it.” I wasn’t the first singer he approached. He had gone to Martha Davis (singer for The Motels) who has her version, her demo, of “Take My Breath Away” on one of her compilation Motels records that she did. A couple of other people had tried to do the song, but they didn’t like it and so I sang it for the producers, did a demo of it, and they loved it."

Fears:Did you sing the song as presented to you or did you add your own touches to it?

Terri:"I kind of messed around with it cause it had problems with the melody; it was a little stiff. Giorgio was kind of a stiff writer anyway and so I kind of played with it and loosened it up a little bit and they loved it. So they gave us the job and John hated it because he was 25 or whatever and it wasn’t our song and here was yet another non-Berlin idea that was thrown on us that he didn’t want. Then it became the biggest hit that we ever had and so that was just taking the dagger and stuffing it even deeper and twirling it. So now we had to play it every show too (laughing) cause that’s what everybody wanted to hear. But absolutely I would do it again. It was such a great, great ride to see the world. To see people everywhere who fell in love with us because of that song."

"Listening to Count Three & Pray, after it's original release almost 15 years ago, still reminds me why this album was not a major hit (except for the overplayed and exhausted single Take My Breath Away) ! The album was an excellent example of a pop-rock group still ahead of it's time; They dropped their synth-new wave style (which was reaching it's expiration date anyway) for a more rock flavor oriented/ alternative experimental sound. This was too much for Berlin's loyal fans to handle. Also, the departure of some of it's original band members did not sit too well with some fans. Terri Nunn's vocals were more throaty and mature sounding; She had a very sultry yet powerful voice. Electric guitars were aplenty. Their previous use of synthesizer technology had somewhat waned. The group even incorporated violins, and Japanese instruments (the koto and biwa) for a more larger and broader musical/moody global effect. The end result was that the public could not process or handle such a great feat or get past the #1 hit Take My Breath Away; Ironically, if you listen carefully the entire album has a pulsing "Top Gun" rock feel to it ! In all honesty, it is a shame Count Three & Pray did not reach a more successful status at the time of it's release in 1986; At least it has reached popular cult status like a fine Hollywood sleeper film ! "

"By the time Berlin released Count Three And Pray, they were a trio consisting of Terri Nunn, Rob Brill, and John Crawford. The keyboard exercises of "No More Words" and "Masquerade" are no longer present, chunking most of the synth keyboards for some heavy guitars and pounding drums. And having someone who produced KISS's Destroyer helped.The slow and moody "You Don't Know" features three Japanese instruments, the biwa (lute) shakuhachi (vertical bamboo flute), and koto (long zither).The song that finally got me to get this album is "Like Flames," whose marching bass and roaring guitar signalling the hard rock sound producer Bob Ezrin used when he produced KISS. The struggle between the weak and the strong, the needers and commanders underline an overall gloomy feel: "We never learn but we know too well/Heaven's died and gone to Hell." One of their best songs.There are four non-singles that really grabbed me due to their sound. The mid-paced "Heartstrings" of the whirlwind of emotions at the moment and morning after shines from tight instrumentation and a catchy chorus. I don't know who does guitar here, but it's impressive.The immortal "Take My Breath Away" with that memorable throbbing bass keyboard, was their only #1 single and began life on the Top Gun soundtrack. This also turned up on their greatest hits collection.With chugging and wailing heavy guitars set to a quasi-power pop/punk rhythm, "Trash" endorses those to live it up and have fun, and not to worry, as one can live with one's past."There's no happy ending when love goes to war" goes a bit of "When Love Goes To War." This call to talk things out instead of ending it with finality has some Cold War stylings: "give me the time I'll show you I'm not your enemy/let's end the cold war." The pounding drums and throbbing rhythm guitar harken to early KISS."Hideaway" is just as heart-tugging a ballad as "Take My Breath Away" calling for a sad and lonely one to free oneself from trapping of fashion (the mask) and unmask oneself to freedom and a needed friend. One of my favourite songs."I'll wear pink and velvet for you" sings Nunn in the final ballad ending this album, "Pink And Velvet" a song avowing mutual love and support in lieu of drugs: "The needle was our life, our hope, our trust turning into dust." The airy keyboards are a plus here. Also benefits from Missing Persons' Patrick O'Hearn's fretless bass and Dave Gilmour's unmistakable guitar.There are many guitarists who help out here, such as Ted Nugent, Elliott Easton, and Dave Gilmour. The majority of this album was produced by Bob Ezrin, best known for producing KISS's Destroyer and Music From The Elder. Notable is how the songwriting is separate instead of collective, the exception being "Heartstrings."The reference "Mo says play it loud" found in the album cover comes from Mo of the Pep Boys, the car commercials, as I learned from Nunn in an MTV interview promoting the album. With the exception of two not too mentionable songs, the rest of the album rocks out or sings out to the heart. So why Count Three And Pray? Well, maybe it's a reference to the fact that they were a trio, or maybe that it's their third album. Whatever the case, a strong album but one that led to dissolution and Terri Nunn's solo album years later."

"I have seen some silly comments about this album, like it is one of Berlin's best. Well, Berlin only released two albums and one EP. This was an experimental CD, with Berlin trying a few different styles. There are some very good songs on the CD, but there are also some clunkers. The only hit is Take My Breath Away, which is a good song that has been overplayed. And if you ever take the Top Gun ride at Paramount's Great America, you have to listen to it over and over again while you wait an hour in line.Berlin was started in 1980 by John Crawford, who found Teri Nunn through audtions. Berlin was one of the leaders of blending new wave and punk music with disco. They put out the incredible Pleaure Victim EP on a independent label. It was only 27 minutes long. They were discovered by Geffen records, who rereleased Pleasure Victim in 1982. It wasn't until 1984 when Berlin released a full length album called Love Life. It was a complete departure from Pleasure Victim, consisting of nondescript slow love songs set to a pop synth beat.By the time Count Three and Pray was produced, the whole disco influence in music was fading and new wave wasn't far behind. Berlin tried to evolve out of that scene. They were successful to some part, but not totally. This album flopped, because it didn't please the Pleasure Victim fans or light pop fans who preferred Love Life.After this, Berlin broke up. In the nineties, Teri Nunn got a back up band and has toured from time to time as Berlin. She released a live album last year. The title of this CD comes from a 1950's western starring Van Heflin."

"Whatever Berlin's fans say or it's detractors, this is Berlin's best album hand's down. "Count Three and Pray" is miles ahead in music writing, lyrics, quality, execution, production ect.ect. than either "Pleasure Victim"(wimpy,plinky plunky primative new wave that was poorly produced) or Love Life(pretty good new wave fluff with better production values). Refreshingly different with an added jamming guitar, harder drums and passionate singing. The band seriously benefited by the terrific production work of Bob Ezrin(of Pink Floyd fame)who gave them a bottom end(bass) that wasn't there in "Pleasure Victim" which was incredibly strident(shrill,hurt your ears at loud volumes), "Love Life" was a vast improvment more midrange with a subtle deep end, some exilerating sonics. "Count Three and Pray" Jams in all departments. ThankYou nuff said! get over it. If you really were a fan of this band you would have purchased this album upon it's initial release and it would have been successful, but instead most of you ignored it, it bombed!(like a flaming kamakazi)and they took it out of circulation for a long time(unlike the clunky debut aforementioned). They broke up and the rest is history. Remember stand by your band or they won't be there tomorrow. Thank God they rereleased this CD, Try their new release "Voyeur" it's pretty good!"

01 Will I Ever Understand You02 Tell Me Why03 You Don't Know04 No More Words05 Touch06 Pink And Velvet07 For All Tomorrow's Lies08 Dancing In Berlin09 Take My Breath Away10 Suffragette City11 Like Flames

Like Blondie, Berlin is a female-fronted new wave band with a lead singer (Terri Nunn) who can really belt, although Nunn is more in-your-face than Debbie Harry. Their music is submerged new wave synth-pop that is varied most successfully by Nunn's agile vocal arrangements. In "No More Words," she first yells and then drops to a scathing whisper, only to attack again; it's scary enough to make any man cower. "Take My Breath Away" is a beautiful from-the-gut ballad, so large and deep in scope that it commands your full attention. In "The Metro" she puts you on a train, sullen and melancholy, going nowhere. --Beth Bessmer

"Terri Nunn kicked around Los Angeles in search of a film career for several years. Berlin was an interesting but unknown band that had a small following but nothing tangible to show for it. In 1979, however, Nunn and Berlin found each other--and the result would be one of the more interesting bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s "New Wave," and by the time Nunn and the members of Berlin called it a day around 1988 they had created not only a solid body of work but several truly memorable international hits.Berlin's best known single would be "Take My Breath Away," a slow but musically intense piece with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Tom Whitlock recorded for the film TOP GUN. (The song proved considerably more memorable than the film itself, picking up a 1986 Oscar for best song.) A runaway hit, the song nonetheless sowed the seeds of the band's destruction: band members were torn between their experimental roots and pop music success, and Berlin self-destructed less than two years later.BEST OF BERLIN 1979-1988 collects the major recordings, including the famous "Take My Breath Away." Like all best of collections, one can argue over what should have been included and what should have been left, but by and large this collection does a very good job of gathering the major recordings, and it gives you a very good idea of what the band did. And what it did was contrast Nunn's unexpectedly powerful voice and flair for emotional dramatics against a increasingly pop-inflected New Wave sound to truly remarkable effect.The earlier recordings like "The Metro" show the band at their edgy New Wave semi-punk best, a strange but intriguing mix of cold electronic sound and emotionally hot lyrics. "Sex (I'm A...)" was perhaps the band's highwater mark in this style, featuring Nunn reciting disconcertingly explicit lyrics against an icy yet sensual sound; it was enough to have the record banned from most radio stations. But it was with more pop-edged songs like "Now It's My Turn" that Berlin really began to make a widespread impression.Terri Nunn has been frequently compared to Debbie Harry, but there is much less grounds for it than you might think: where Harry tended to work in a throw-away style, Nunn has a hardrock belter's voice more akin to the likes of Heart's Nancy Wilson. It is directly into the microphone in a roundhouse punch, a sharp, at times strident voice that would have been perfectly at home in a heavy metal girl band with the likes of Lita Ford and Joan Jett. Songs like "Sky High" and "Like Flames" prove the point.Berlin has lately reunited, and fans of the band--and I'm certainly among them--are hoping they can capture the same lightening all over again. They were a knock-out band and their recordings are presently very under appreciated; it would be a very good thing to see them at the top of the charts again."

"for the casual fan of berlin in the eighties or for someone who never really heard their full work, this is an awesome cd at a reasonable cost. sad to say, berlin hasn't been together for sometime & terri nunn's solo work with the album "moment of truth" didn't seem to do as well as we'd hoped. however, there are still fans of berlin & the band does tour from time to time. i've read that there are no original members aside from ms. nunn but there was a reunion tour not that long ago with members of the original line-up. hmm, interesting. well, i'm getting away from my review. although best of does feature some of the greatest songs in their career from 1979-1988, it is by no means all inclusive. i would've loved it so much more if 'pleasure victim' or 'tell me why' had been included here. however, i do love the remake or remix of 'all tomorrow's lies" which in my opinion is far better than the original in all respects. this version is more of soft ballad for fans who loved 'take my breath away'. after all, many of berlin's greatest & devoted fans came to know this music after seeing the film "top gun" in the eighties. although "take my breath away' is indeed a beautiful song, there are so many other great classics by this group which deserve as much attention. some of my favorite tracks include 'no more words', 'metro', & 'masquerade' to name just a few. if you loved the eighties or liked retro music, this is a must album for your collection. if you are glad the eighties are long gone, you still might enjoy the wonderful voice of terri nunn & the craftmanship known as the band berlin. i listen to this cd year in & year out. this is a great exaple or a blueprint perhaps of what could've been the biggest band in the eighties. tell me why they weren't bigger than they were? "

"I've known of Berlin ever since I heard and loved "No More Words" in the early 80's, but never had anything of theirs until recently. After getting this disc, I'm a full-on fan. Of course "Take My Breath Away" from the film "Top Gun" is their biggest hit, but the rest of the songs are far more new wave, some synthy, some almost punk, but all good. After a listen I realized I also knew "Sex (I'm A...)" and "The Metro" as well, and both classics in their genre. Other favorites are the rockin' opener "Blowin' Sky High", "Now It's My Turn", "Masquerade", "You Don't Know", and "All Tommorrows Lies". Have I mentioned every track yet? Terri also sang on a great Sisters Of Mercy track called "Under The Gun", and though it was released after this collection, I wish it was on here too. Still, if you're a fan of Blondie, or of any new wave, or just great music, I suggest the "Best Of Berlin"."

"When I first heard "Sex (I'm A...)" on a college radio station in 1983, I was immediately interested in this group. I already loved anything new wave, and this was even better because of the risque subject matter. Then came "The Metro". I bought the 45 and played it over and over and over. The video was played heavily on WTBS' "Night Tracks". I also liked the follow-up, "Masquerade". The following year, the group finally broke through and scored a Top 40 hit with "No More Words". Once again, I also liked the follow-up, "Now It's my Turn". 1986 saw the group have it's biggest success with "Take my Breath Away". Much was made at the time that many members of the group saw the huge success of "Take my Breath Away" as a mixed blessing because it was not really representative of the kind of music they played. The group scored one final minor chart hit with "Like Flames" and then faded from view. All 7 of the band's Billboard Hot 100 hits are included on this CD. However, since 7 songs does not really fill a CD, the record company padded out the song list with 5 album cuts.If you did not watch video channels or listen to alternative radio during the 80's, you may be unfamiliar with this group other than "Take my Breath Away" and possibly "No More Words" since those were the only 2 songs to hit the Top 40 and receive widespread airplay. However, all 7 of the band's Hot 100 hits are awesome and should have been bigger hits than they were.The Hot 100 hits are the best (especially "The Metro"). The other songs aren't bad, they just don't stand out like the familiar songs on this disc. Since this was released, I remember in the early 90's a few radio stations playing a dance remix version of "Take my Breath Away" that was either credited to Berlin or lead singer Teri Nunn. In my opinion, it was better than the original version, but I have never been able to find it on CD. I assume it was just a promotional disc sent out to promote her solo CD (although the remix is not on her solo disc).Anyway, I recommend this CD for the awesome 7 songs that were hits."

TERRI NUNN - Moment Of Truth (1992)

"Berlin vocalist Terri Nunn is an icon. As the charismatic vocal and focal point for a band that virtually launched electronic dance rock in the US, Terri earned the No. 11 spot on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Women in Rock."

Gail Worley:You left Berlin in 1987 to go solo but didn?t release your first solo CD until 1992. What went on in the meantime?

Terri Nunn:"I went through a lot of searching and I worked with other people a lot on their stuff. I worked with Perry Farrell on a movie of his called The Gift. I worked with Andrew Eldrich from the Sisters of Mercy on a song for his ?Best Of? album, I worked with a jazz artist, Dan Siegel on one of his records. It really felt like [I was] getting out of a cage for the first time, because I?d been working with John or doing Berlin since 1979. Finally, it felt like I could finally do anything I wanted. I had money, so I just enjoyed collaborating with other people on different things for a while. Then I finally settled on a couple of partners to make a record for me, which was called Moment of Truth. I wrote most of the material with Karl Hyde from a band called Underworld. It finally came together; we recorded it in 1991 and it came out in ?92.How is Moment of Truth different from what you did with Berlin?It?s completely different. It was all over the map; too much so, actually. It was a mess. I just tried to do twenty different styles of songs (laughs) on one record: rap, dance, pop, ballads, rock, it was just everything. The problem was that it just wasn?t unique. I was trying to be too many different things. It had some good moments but it just didn?t hold together as an album. It would do better if it were released now because people don?t buy albums anymore. They just download singles."

Chad Bowar:After the band broke up, you released a solo album (1992's Moment of Truth). Were you happy with it?

Terri Nunn:"It was kind of a mess, because it was everything. I tried to do every idea that I couldn't do in Berlin for so long and stuck it on that record. I listen to it now and ask, "Is she rap, is she rock, is she a balladeer, is she new wave, is she techno, or what?"

Chad Bowar:The early 90s was a strange time for music, with the popularity of artists like Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer, hair bands, and the birth of grunge.

Terri Nunn:"I remember right about when my album came out, they had just signed Nirvana. I walked into the offices of Geffen one day and heard it coming out of an office. I had a meeting there, but I sat down outside the office in a chair and listened to as much as I could. It was that good. It was the beginning of a whole new world. Nirvana changed everything. "Chad Bowar:What did you do in the time period between your solo album in the early 90s to when Berlin reformed in the late 90s?

Terri Nunn:"After I did the solo record I worked with other people for awhile. I was just lost as far as inspiration. I didn't much like being a solo artist at all. It wasn't the same kind of passion coming from five people in a group. It was like I was the passion, and the people around me were paid. They did what I wanted, but they didn't get in and fight with me to make it better. So then I started working with other people on their projects, like Jane's Addiction and Sisters of Mercy, just doing other people's ideas for awhile. That was liberating. I enjoyed it, and there was no pressure. "

"With Berlin having hit an artistic high note on 1986's Bob Ezrin-produced Count Three and Pray, it was most regrettable when the trio broke up. Moment of Truth, the debut solo album by Berlin's lead singer Terri Nunn, made the breakup seem all the more regrettable. Minus the input of her colleagues from Berlin, Nunn delivers a run-of-the-mill pop/rock offering that isn't terrible, but pales in comparison to her inspired performances on "No More Words," "Sex (I'm A....)," "Take My Breath Away" and other Berlin gems. Despite a few decent spots, including the rap/rock protest song "89 Lines" and the single "Let Me Be the One," the album really isn't worth the price of admission. Any one of of Berlin's three albums — Pleasure Victim, Love Life and its best of all, Count Three and Pray — would be a much better investment."

"The first thing I do is thank Terri for something she did back in 1991. She's curious, so I briefly tell her how I'd bought her solo album ("Momentof Truth") and had written a letter congratulating her and wishing her thebest success. A month and a half after I sent it, I received an autographedpicture made out to me. Chris teases her with "aww, isn't Terrisweeeeeeeeet?" She is, actually. We spend the next 30 minutes coveringalmost anything and everything under the sun. I wanted to know what happened to her after releasing "Moment Of Truth", a very underrated album by the way, until reforming Berlin in 1998. "I got a life," she says matter-of-factly, "and I got married. All I ever had was music, so I really wanted a life." Aside from helping take care of her two stepchildren during her time out of the spotlight, she also worked with Jane's Addiction, Sisters of Mercy and a few others."(http://www.modamag.com/berlin.htm)

Billy Ward drummer:"This was recorded at the little purple guy’s studio called Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis. I was there for three weeks. This recording experience was an example of big label excess – we sat around a lot and it might be the most money I ever made doing a record. Terri Nunn is another ridiculously talented singer (from the band, Berlin. She sang “Take My Breath Away”… yeah. NOW you know her) If you can see her live – DO IT. She is GREAT. Otherwise, this record is worth avoiding." (http://www.billyward.com/selecteddisco.html)

"How's this for irony? While Berlin the city became unified, Berlin the group disbanded. 1991 saw lead vocalist Terri Nunn release her only solo album Moment Of Truth, which was a more mainstream affair compared to the New Wave exercises of Berlin's first two albums and the shift to hard rock in Count Three And Pray. So should that be Count Four And Sell Out? Utter nonsense, because the album, a late entry in 80's hard rock, benefits from great musicianship and Nunn's able vocal delivery. More than that, most of the songs comprise an album Heart should've made inbetween Brigade and Desire Walks On."Confession Time" seems like a good theme for someone on those self-discovering road trips where one might be running away or hiding from something, as that's what the protagonist of this song is on. The soft-spoken monologue towards the end offers two outcomes: "You can drive on a road to nowhere...or you can take the wheel and turn it to your heart...it's your life...it's your life." Ozzy drummer Randy Castillo helps out here.Set to a rock beat and fuzzy guitar, the lusty "Desire Me" has the risque subjects explored in previous Berlin songs. The spoken free-association words point to that direction: "dreams/fate/nipple/salad" or in the beginning "birth/love/pain/s-x/desire"I don't know if the sobering "Once Upon A Time" is autobiographical but it's a tragic tale of how the protagonist's father became disillusioned with life, "got high to stop the pain" and "flew high above his shame/leaving the words 'It's too late for me.'"If someone sung about their crossing the Rubicon, their crisis point/make-it or break-it moment, it'd be the title track. There is a harrowing analogy of hanging on a cliff without a parachute with rocks crumbling below.The reason I took to "Let Me Be The One" so easily is that it might as well be a cousin to Heart's "All I Wanna Do" and other 80's power ballads. Some great backup vocals by the Steeles make this a standout cut."89 Lines" is a sociopolitical monologue commentary on racism and politics, detailing police harassment, needed money for education, and the hypocritical routine of going public with lies and apologies. Many barbed lines here, including my favourite: "I ask not what I can do for my country 'cause I wonder sometimes if it cares for me." She does sing in the pre-chorus and choruses.Martin Page wrote "Who's Gonna Take You Home Tonight", which is another 85-90 style Heart song with background vocals from producer David Z and Levi Seacer among others, which if Heart did would've been a great single. Nunn too, for that matter. Ditto for the ballad "Go Ask The Lonely," also backed by the Steeles, where Nunn's voice echoes Ann Wilson's at times.If "Too Far To Fall" was spiced up with heavy guitars, it'd be transformed into Heart's "Back In Black II." This one nears filler status."Fly By Night," written by Ric Ocasek, has a funky 70's guitar and a droning fuzz guitar accompanied by sitar and airy synths. A decent song. The mid-paced "Diane" rounds things out, on comforting a girlfriend who's been hurt in love.With the new music scene, many 80's groups and artists either had to adapt or roll over dead. Maybe this is why this late entry in 80's rock failed and given Terri Nunn's rep, this album should've done way better. Major reappraisal needed."

"Unlike other remixed CDs from Eighties groups (Duran Duran for example), these songs sound incredibly fresh. The songs from the first Berlin album ("Pleasure Victim", "Sex" and "Metro") could fill the floor in any club (if you could find a DJ brave enough!). And even "Take My Breath Away" -- whose original version was sappy enough to require a shot of insulin -- in starkly beautiful. This is really a great CD."

"I agree with another reviewer in that this is not the best remix. Terri's vocals tend to be somewhat "dimmed" and replaced with heavy bass and other electronic type noises. On many parts of the songs, the orginal sounds don't mesh well with the remix additions. However with that said, the CD does offer a sort of dance type music, but I personally prefer Sacred and Profane."

"This disc, unlike other remix albums (such as Missing Persons) actually gives a new spin on songs. This mainly results from the obviously overdubbed voice of the reinvented Terri Nunn. The remixes by Astralasia and Aqualite are tremendous, and the piano version of Take My Breath Away is wonderfully minimalist, but the most radically different version, and therefore best, is transmutator's version of Pleasure Victim. It has mystical properties to it. This should be a staple at any dance club!"

"I love Berlin, but these particular remixes sound too "Industrial". It takes away from the music and lyrics instead of adding something to them. The songs are pretty much de-constructed & I feel the original versions are better. I've heard MUCH better re-mixes such as with Whitney Houstons dance songs of last year."

"A fan since The Metro" days, this CD puts a new spin on the old songs. One word - Fantastic! Great to see Terri back and rockin.Each song is stylized and updated for today's sound. Done much the same way as Blondies - Remixed,Remade,Remodeled. There is not a bad cut off of this baby. I fell in love with the songs all over again.Buy it now and then go buy the live album - Sacred and Profane. Old fans won't be disappointed and new ones will see what the fuss was about. A must for your complete Berlin CD catalog, Thumbs up!"

Chad Bowar:You reformed Berlin and went on tour. (A live CD from that tour, Sacred and Profane was released in 2000) Did you plan on recording original material with the new band members from the start, or did touring with them cement the idea?

Terri Nunn:"I knew it when I first started with them, but I didn't find the magic combination until Mitchell Sigman, the keyboard player, came into the band right after the release of the live CD. His writing ability coupled with mine worked. Everything started to go. It was wonderful. "

Chad Bowar:Berlin is going on tour to support Voyeur. Do you enjoy performing live?

Terri Nunn:"I love it. That's why I do it. I don't love the studio. I get in and out as fast as I can. For me, the live experience is everything. It's why I got into it. Everybody's there, and happy, into the music, and there to have a good time. We're all getting off at the same time from what we're hearing. For me, whether I'm an audience member or on stage, just being in that whole environment, to me, is one of the greatest drugs I've ever had."

"Berlin burst onto the scene with the ultimate movie ballad from Top Gun entitled Take My Breath Away. The song was also on 1986's Count Three and Pray. Led by (mostly) Terri Nunn with interchangeable musicians that had numerous incarnations that seems also incomprehensible.The starting point of founding members began with John Crawford, bass and Rob Brill, drums. The band did have earlier success with their sophomore effort, Pleasure Victim, from 1982 that spawned "Sex (I'm A..)" and "The Metro". They have a total of six albums commercially available. Berlin in its first incarnation did not feature Terri Nunn on vocals, so hence their first album, Information, is without her. Their third album, Lovelife, from 1984 , didn't seem to produce any hit singles. It was their fourth, Count Three and Pray in 1986 that caught worldwide attention, especially after Top Gun was released. A remix album via Japan was next as well as a Greatest Hits which ended the '80s for them. A Best Of version as well as Berlin Greatest Hits Remixed (from the infamous Cleopatra label) both have come out in 2000. As time went on, John and Rob left and started another band The Big F. As per their website, "...it was probably this frustration with Berlin that fuelled the anger and aggression that seems to dominate the first album."Berlin reunited to perform a concert and returned with another CD in 2000 called Sacred & Profrane Live. Terri has been featured in VH1's "Where Are They Now?""(http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/80s_music/48951)

"Don't know if the world was waiting or even ready for an in-concert Berlin record, but Berlin Live: Sacred and Profane holds more guts than expected considering the vast keyboard capacity of Terri Nunn's vehicle. Berlin's always been about Nunn's visuals and vocalizing, and, give the girl credit — her presence brought her fame. Here, Nunn shines like the tarnished star she is, scarred but smarter from her heady '80s heyday. And, let's get real, even stripped of the tasty trappings provided by Berlin's extensive army of supreme production talent (Ezrin, Moroder, Zito), "Masquerade," "No More Words," and "The Metro" are supernovas of wavy radio. With more distortion, Nunn's divorce song "Steps" could pass for a Drill bit or a caustic cut by any of the other spastic femme fatale formations of the '90s. Three studio cuts (worked over by Gilby Clarke) are tacked on, and "Xgirl" shows Berlin hasn't missed a beat (No doubt co-author Charlotte Cafferey of the Go-Go's helps tons.). A run through the sublime "Shayla" reveals Nunn's obvious roots, as Blondie's impact on girl rock forever stretches through history (however, the added rap also reveals the same painful ambition). But Nunn has her own legacy of music to be proud of, and one could do much worse than sharing these songs with her for an hour; they made her notorious for a reason, and the melodies remain sharp, haunting, and hot. Some greats from the Berlin oeuvre are missing (guess a Ted Nugent walk-on for "Trash" is too much to ask for), but Berlin's always been too forward-looking to just drop a live greatest hits (Best of Berlin remains a vital purchase.). Berlin Live: Sacred and Profane is a surprise treat from an unlikely concert attraction."

"For fans of Berlin this will be loved or hated. Its not the original line up but for those who never got to hear the orginal Berlin live this is a good live album. A mixture of old and new, worth a listen with an open mind."

01 Blink Of An Eye (4:15)02 Shiny (4:42)03 Lost My Mind (4:15)04 The World Is Waiting (4:51)05 Drug (4:49)06 Sacred And Profane (4:03)07 All I Ever Need (3:38)08 With A Touch (4:35)09 To A King (4:36)10 Stranger On The Bus (4:19)11 Stronger Than Steel (4:16)11b Pleasure Victim (Acoustic - Live) (5:25)

Chad Bowar:How did you hook up with your current record label, Artist Direct?

Terri Nunn:"Last year, in the summer of 2001, we decided to put out an E.P. We had enough music for that, and I hadn't met a label that either I liked, or that liked me. I was going to put it out myself, but then two labels came to the table, one of which was Artist Direct. I really like what they're doing. It feels like Geffen again over there. It was started by Ted Field, who founded Interscope, and they're very progressive in their marketing. It's also giving artists a 50/50 partnership in the music as opposed to, "We own your music, Mr. Artist, here's a quarter. Thank you very much." That's been the music business, but these guys are doing what we've been asking record companies to do forever. It's phenomenal."

Chad Bowar:Where did the title of the new CD, Voyeur, come from?

Terri Nunn:"I'm a pervert. I enjoy watching. (laughs) Actually, it's a commentary from me about the kind of voyeurism that's going on in America. It's scaring me a little bit, shows like Fear Factor and what people will do for a camera. "

Chad Bowar:On the new CD, you collaborate with former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. How did you hook up?

Terri Nunn:"I called him out of the blue. We had 8 songs and needed another four or five, fast. My husband said, "Why don't you make a list of people you want to write with, and call them." So I made a long list and narrowed it down to three people: Trent Reznor, Moby, and Billy Corgan. Billy Corgan said he was going to be in town in a couple of weeks, maybe we can get together. I sent him a song, he called back and said he really liked it, but would like to do something different with it, would you mind? I said I wouldn't mind at all and I'd love to hear it. He came over with a guitar, played me the ideas, we messed around with it and got it done in a couple of days. It was really wonderful what he did with it. He slowed it down, made it very emotional and film-noirish"

Terri Nunn:"It has the same keyboard-based sound and it?s as electronic as ever, it?s just more contemporary. We incorporated a lot of inspiration from bands like Garbage and Sneaker Pimps, and even industrial [artists] like Nine Inch Nails, but there is a lot of new technology, new sounds and new directions. I really thought that what I can add to the mix of today?s electronic music is a message in the lyrics I write. To me, messages are really important in music. Bands have changed my life, not just for the sound but also for what they?ve said to me.In my younger years I didn?t have a lot of stability. We were a family that moved a lot so my records were my friends. I listened to them and their messages about love, war, friendship, loss and pain, all that. I learned a lot about life, people and myself. That?s what I wanted to keep in the music and that?s what I felt was missing from a lot of [contemporary music]. Trent Reznor has some great messages in his music."

"Terri Nunn still has it ! Strong vocals and an awesome band (despite the fact all band members have changed). Every live track on here rivals the sound (if not exceeds) the original studio releases from the 80's. The sound of the music is more rock/alternative than new wave/pop. There is more guitar than synthesizer.This c.d. lives up to it's live portion. My favorite tracks are Touch, The Metro, For All Tomorrow's Lies (Terri's tender and romantic side),the haunting You Don't Know,and Sex(still steamy after all these years) ! As for the last three new studio tracks, it is a shock to the system to hear Berlin using rap on Blondie's old tune Shayla. The last two tracks, Wings and XGirl are nothing more than techno filler-pop and are considerably weak despite Nunn's distinct and strong vocals...With the addition of a talented back up singer (Charlene Gibson),new band members, and an up-to-date rock sound, Sacred and Profane is worthy of all the stars; minus the last three studio tracks !"

"It was SO nice to see some new material from Berlin. The live cuts are great and lively and Terri Nunn never sounded better. The new material, some live and some recorded, ain't bad either. I really liked "Steps" and "XGirl," written with Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Gos.Its nice to see that at least one 80s band has not disappeared and is still kicking a-s!"

"More a Terri Nunn album then a Berlin, in that the sound is totally new and more like Terris own solo album of a few years earlier. However, i enjoyed this album and hearing Ms Nunns vocal talents again. Most of the tracks are good listening if not classics and very polished performance"

""Voyeur" is the "comeback" (sort of) of classic 80's pop band Berlin. "Voyeur" only features one original member of Berlin, and that member is the lead singer Terri Nunn. This is the first time Terri really steps up to write songs (she has written a few in the past, but not an album full of songs).Well this is a mixed experience. While I would love this album to have the same catchy pop songwriting, and the same amount of energy that the original Berlin had, sadly it doesn't fulfill either of these wants completely. The songwriting is some of the worst lyrics Berlin has ever had (in many spots), and the energy level is surprisingly low for the majority of the album.That said, there are a few saving graces, and those are the cool production and beats, and a handful of killer songs. Luckily "Voyeur" isn't a complete loss, but its not unforgettable or "classic" either. Pick it up if your a big fan of Berlin, even if this isn't the same Berlin as the 80's Berlin.Best Songs: Shiny, Drug, Sacred and Profane, To a King, and Stranger on a Bus"

"First let me tell you, the energy that resonates off this CD alone is amazing. I can't imagine what the real concert was like. Terry Nunn sings an amazing set of songs, and her performance is truly remarkable.I am not usually a fan of Live Cd's, because the songs usually sound bad or nothing like you remembered. This set of live songs are different from their origionals, but the way they are sung is really good.I was also afraid to purchase this CD when I heard that there was a lot more guitar than synthesiser. Being a big synth-pop fan, this scared me off, but luckily I gave it a shot anyway.Synth or no synth, these songs are sung beautifully and you will love your favourites sung with an energetic band and audience! In the song "No More Words", Terry interacts with the audience letting them sing part of the chorus.Personal Picks: "No More Words", "Metro" (you have got to hear this one) "Masqurade", "Tell Me Why" ... well at this rate I'll name the whole CD, but it is a stellar performance.What I would've done to be in that concert..."

"As time went on, the Roadhouse crowd grew to capacity, everybody anxiously waiting for their slice of 80’s heaven, Berlin. Once Terri Nunn hit the stage, the roar of the audience was deafening. (I was standing up against the speaker, which was loud on its own – throw in the crowd and you’ve got some serious ear damage – why, oh why didn’t I bring ear plugs?) Ladies and gents, I’ll probably say this a lot over the next few months…Berlin rocks hard, and Terri Nunn is easily one of the greatest performers in the music industry. Opening with Masquerade, from their first LP, the energy was high, and the crowd was in love. Terri was as close to the crowd as she could possibly be, giving everybody an opportunity to grab her hand.Before I continue, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Berlin…weren’t they like a techno-pop band? How can they rock hard?” Let me tell you firstly that, aside from Terri, this is not the original band. The songs have been revved up with some loud guitar and powerful drumming. Add some spiky hair and black eyeliner and the band has never looked so good, or sounded better. Terri, in fact, looked every bit as stunning as she did way back in 1982! (Gosh, I sound like an old man telling a story, don’t I? “Back in ’82…”Berlin played amazing versions of Pictures of You and Now It’s My Turn before Terri hopped onto the shoulders of a very lucky security guard for a cruise around the club, giving everybody a close up view of the 80s pop icon. They played a souped up version of The Metro, then an acoustic version of No More Words, which was recently featured on VH1’s Bands Reunited. They played a few cover songs, including Dreams from Fleetwood Mac and Big Time from Peter Gabriel. Of course they played their huge hit, Take My Breath Away, followed by the very erotic Sex (I’m A), which included a rendition of I Feel Love thrown in the middle to spice things up. If you ask me, however, that song does not need any more spice than it already has.The band returned for an encore performance of Pleasure Victim and Erotic City from Prince. Terri Nunn then ventured over to the T-shirt counter to sign autographs for the hungry mob of fans that were cradling their Pleasure Victim LPs. She loves her fans, and she shows it."(http://cabands.com/reviews/review.asp?value=20040630BERLIN&ri=r)

Terri Nunn:"This has been a golden age of this band for me. There were two golden ages: during the first and second record, and right now. Everybody's been in the band for three years, and the guitar player about five years. It's not easy to find a group of people who are equally committed, and get along, and are talented that are happy with what they're doing and happy with each other. So when it happens, it's huge. It's been like that with this group of people for three years now. There definitely will be more records."

"A little dissapointing for a long time Berlin fan like myself, but i always try to keep an open mind. This is a mix of some new tracks, covers and rare tracks. A good fan addition"

"Produced and engineered by Mitchell Sigman, 4Play features the live Berlin line up of Sigman on keyboards, Chris Olivas on drums and guitarist Carlton Bost (Deadsy), with Terri’s emotive, crystal-clear vocals sounding as passionate and dynamic as ever. In addition to two new Berlin tracks (the sultry, percolating beat of “Scream” and the equally provocative “Down and Dirty”) 4Play gives Terri and Berlin a forum to take on some of the most popular rock hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s, such as Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time,” Prince’s “Erotic City,” “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode and Marilyn Manson’s signature hit, “Dope Show.” As Terri explains, it’s a record she’s wanted to make for a long time. “These are songs from our favorite artists that we’ve enjoyed playing live over the years. This is the first time I didn’t have a record label telling me no, so I finally got to record all of these songs into one compilation.” Terri is most excited about 4Play’s inclusion of the previously unreleased track “For What It’s Worth,” Buffalo Springfield’s classic political ballad. “I originally recorded that song with producer David Kershenbaum (Tracy Chapman, Duran Duran) for The Best of Berlin,” says Terri. “It never made that record, so I’m really happy to release it now in light of what’s going on in the world. For me, September 11 was a huge wake-up call that America needs to be more self-protective as a country. Stephen Stills wrote the lyric ‘There’s something happening here’ in the ‘60s, but he really called it. The message is still very timely.” 4Play also includes a live acoustic version of “No More Words,” recorded in 2004 for VH1’s Bands Reunited – where Terri, John Crawford and David Diamond performed together as Berlin for the first time since 1987. “Doing “No More Words” was David’s last minute idea,” Terri offers. “He said, ‘We’ve never done that song acoustically and I think it would sound pretty good.’ The version did come out amazing, and everyone at the show said it was the best song we did that night. I was able to license it from VH1 and, since it’s the last song that David, John and I recorded together, I really love having that on 4Play.”As Terri takes Berlin into the aughts, she remains keenly aware of all that she and the band have accomplished. “We were at the very beginning of the electronic movement in America and that’s something I’m proud of,” she states. “It wasn’t easy, because we didn’t know if it was just a fad or something that would last. We were so inspired because electronic music took rock ‘n’ roll to a new level beyond just bass, drums, guitar and vocals to become anything you wanted it to be. The exciting thing for me now is that it can be anything I want it to be live. When we tour today we have computers running on stage and video content running simultaneously with the music. It’s fantastic,” she laughs. “The possibilities of electronic music are endless, and I don’t mind expanding on my own legacy in that genre. Personally, I love following what my favorite bands are up to as they mature. It’s great to hear what Stevie Nicks or Kate Bush are doing now. I love being able to represent that as well.”"(http://www.kenphillipsgroup.com/Phillips/berlin.htm)

Biography:This Los Angeles-based synth pop group, founded in 1979 by bassist John Crawford (Crawford's career as a musician began in junior high after breaking his leg during a basketball game. In an attempt to fight off the boredom of being injured, he picked up a guitar and began taking lessons at a musical instrument retailer in nearby Fullerton, California, where his teacher put him in touch with future Berlin band members Dan Van Patten and Chris Velasco. John attended El Dorado High School in Placentia, California.The three soon formed a band called The Toys In 1976 with vocalist Ty Cobb at the helm. The band’s first performance was at a Sadie Hawkins dance at Crawford’s high school of the time. Crawford, Cobb and the others were influenced by then-current punk rockers like the Sex Pistols along with techno rockers Ultravox, though Crawford has cited KISS as an early influence as well.After a name change to Berlin (they had several gigs around town until one day they received a letter from an attorney. The letter stated that The Toys was already a registered band name and that Drummer Dan and his band could no longer use it.Daniel Patten: “Oh well what could we do except not use that name anymore. But then we had to come up with a new one. Sitting at Chris’ house, I looked up and saw a beer mug that marked ‘Berlin.’ Chris and his family were from Germany and the name stuck. From then on we were known as Berlin.” , Cobb was out and a string of vocalists ensued.Check also this for more details:http://www.crawfordmusic.net/_mb/viewtopic.php?t=59),singer),Terri Nunn, and keyboard player David Diamond, made its first national impression with the provocative single "Sex (I'm A...)" from the gold-selling debut EP Pleasure Victim in 1982. The group was filled out by guitarist Rick Olsen, keyboard player Matt Reid, and drummer Rob Brill. Berlin's first full-length LP was the gold Love Life in 1984. In 1985, the group was pared down to a trio of Crawford, Nunn, and Brill. Berlin topped the charts in 1986 with the single "Take My Breath Away," the love theme from the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. Nunn left for a solo career in 1987, and Crawford and Brill teamed up in the Big F.John Crawford:"After the Big F broke up I was very lost concerning music and what I wanted to do. Terri and I tried to write together for a short while, but we both knew that the spark was missing, and the response we received from others confirmed this. After that I pretty much stopped doing music all together."In 1999, the band reunited to record some new studio material and also performed a concert, which, along with the new songs, was released as 2000's Berlin Live: Sacred and Profane. This was followed a year later by a flurry of recording sessions that included co-writing tracks with Billy Corgan, among others. The end result, Voyeur, was their first full-length studio release in over 15 years. (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifyxqw5ldse and https://secure.nameservers.com/ambergriscaye.com/sanpedrosun/old/07-154.html)

Chatting recently with lead singer Terri Nunn, I first asked her if Berlin was one of the first American electro-pop bands, why did they decide to name it after a foreign city?!

Terri Nunn:”My partner was German and he was in love with that whole era of the Berlin time. The art, the music and the whole scene was just so exciting. And we didn’t have anything like that going on in America at the time. So, I guess we were trying to be who we weren’t. So we cultivated the look, the mystery, the whole thing that we thought Berlin should be. We were trying to bring it to America, really.”(http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=631)

JOHN CRAWFORDex-The Toys,ex-The Videos (Craig Sibley:"The Videos" which was a band I formed in the early 80's.The line up included; John Crawford on bass who later went on to form the popular band "Berlin", John Benson on Drums, Rich West on Keyboards (who also went on to play with the 80's pop band Stacy Q), Ken Dudley on guitar/backing vocals, and me on vocals and guitar.You can listen to one of their song "Skitso Attack"here:http://www.craigsibley.com/Pages/Music%20Page.htmor download here:http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2007/07/va-up-another-octave-transmission-lp.html) ,ex-Fahrenheit 1978-1980 (see this with downloads:http://www.crawfordmusic.net/_mb/viewtopic.php?t=157&sid=3cc0af412dc511a36e35f0e98c0a90b9),As a founding member, songwriter, and bassist of the Los Angeles based pop-rock band, Berlin, Crawford achieved international success and top-twenty chart status. With hits such as "The Metro", "No More Words" and "You Don't Know",after left Berlin,he founded The Big F. with Berlin drummer Rob Brill (three albums between 1988-1993).Following a short-lived attempt at reuniting Berlin with Nunn, Crawford took a step away from the music industry to focus on his family and sort out the aftermath of his success. It would be ten years before he performed again or wrote another note of music. In the early 90s, Crawford took a leap of faith and became a Born-Again Christian, an act that he credits with saving not only his soul but his marriage to the mother of his three children.In 2003 the members of Berlin's Love Life era lineup got together at the behest of VH1’s Bands Reunited show, resulting in phone conversations between Crawford and Diamond that Crawford credits with inspiring him to begin writing again.Soon he released two solo albums (2005,2006).Crawford is reportedly working on a new album of material, to be called Tarantula.Fears:The one band I recall being electronically driven in the 70s was the German band Kraftwerk. Since Berlin was closely related to the synth sound, which bands and/or musicians inspired John, Kraftwerk perhaps?

"Joe Julian who had left the band years earlier, asked Drummer Dan if he would like to move to England and work with him. How could he not say yes? Drummer Dan said goodbye to the old US of A and hello to England. On the second day of work with Joe, Drummer Dan met Nicki Chinn, one of the most acclaimed songwriters ever, who offered him yet a better deal. Leaving Joe behind, Drummer Dan traveled all across Europe for the next five years working hand-in-hand with Nicki and bands such as Blondie. In 1987, Drummer Dan returned to USA and opened his own studio called Advance Media Systems. However by 1990, he was ready to bid the music biz farewell. “Music is a nine to five job; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. that is. I just needed a break,” he explained. That is how DVP Drum Company was born; he went into selling what he knew best – drums. After getting married, Drummer Dan decided it was time to retire completely and he loved every minute of it.The Van Patten family was now living in San Pedro Town/Belize.in 2000, Drummer Dan was asked to sit in for Cat 7. Since then, he hasn’t stopped playing. On Fridays he hits Oceanside in Caye Caulker with Dennis Wolfe, Saturday he is at Crazy Canuck’s(http://www.sanpedrodaily.com/crazycanucks.html),Sunday afternoons he can be found at BC’s while on Mondays it is the Road Kill Bar. Gino and the Shark Shakers hit Oceanside on Thursdays while on Wednesdays he beats alongside his buddies, Scott’s Rusted Van, at Road Kill Bar."

ROD LEARNEDBerlin's first drummer left the band before they started recording (Matt Reid :"He had made a clean break with the band in the summer of '83."),only performed on the first track of "Pleasure Victim" EP and on the US festival live 1983. He retired from music,but played on the VH1 show where Berlin's classic version was featured.

MATT REID (Matt Reid Cohn)"Matt Reid Cohn is a musician and composer from Long Beach, California. He has enjoyed a colorful musical journey so far, touring the globe with the band "Berlin" in the early '80s, composing for Toyota Corporation, writing children's music, and playing live in venues all over southern California. He has just finished collaborating on his first documentary video, "Tiki Hunters." Cohn enjoys the cultural diversity of southern California and is always seeking to infuse his work with it."(http://www.trakwerx.com/composers.htm#top)

"I do my MUSIC and PHOTOGRAPHY projects near the ocean in southern CALIFORNIA. I enjoy the riches of LOS ANGELES and surrounding areas. I commute by BICYCLE to my day job, and I often take the scenic route.....I'm also big on RUNNING--see my PIX for more evidence of that. In '05 I did my first feature-length film soundtrack, "BLOOD DEEP." In May of '06 I was fortunate enough to put up my first solo PHOTO EXHIBITION (See the neon photo pieces in the "My Photos" album). One of my favorite associations over the last several years is with the MUSEUM OF NEON ART. I have dj'ed and played live at many openings there, and created two video installations with my buddy DAVID WITHAM (see "Television") which were presented at MONA. I also met my esteemed colleague MIKE THE POET at the museum. He has allowed me to be his guest on percussion and camera at several happenings in L.A.'s underground art scene (please google "MATT REID COHN" for some newspaper coverage of the preceding items). And my favorite musical affiliation is with MCGAUGH SCHOOL in Seal Beach, CA. Every year I get to compose a new piece for the school's Pageant of the Arts."

CHRIS RUIZ-VELASCOex-Zicko Glick,ex-The Toys,ex-The Videos went on to earn a Phd. and become a professor of literature (California State University Fullerton’s)He wrote a song "Better Than Heaven" for Stacey Q in 1986

DAVID DIAMONDwas a member of Berlin during their first two albums for which he played guitar and keyboard, as well as occassional background vocals. He also wrote for the group including the music to the song Sex.He is a private pilot…not a flight instructor. Flying for him is just for the sheer enjoyment of it. Diamond was also a founding member of the 80s rock group, Berlin, and it was during the band's first tour he experienced flight in a small airplane for the first time. Now a professional writer and 3D illustrator, Diamond wrote and illustrated this book to fill a need he found during his own flight training: a book that spoke honestly about flying, the training required, and the human aspects that challenge the student pilot.Diamond decided to become the writer he sought. His first book, “Flight Training: Taking the Short Approach” is the result.

ROB BRILLbefore Berlin was a member of Short Hope. After left Berlin he was one of a founder member of The Big F,worked with many bands and artists,just to mention few:Mr.YT (1979), Color Me Gone (1984), Gowan (1987),Pete Droge around 1996 and 1999,Crowded House (1994),Noah Stone (1995), Kelly Clarkson (1997),Nicola Graham (1998),Alex Woodard (2005), Garth Reeves (2006)He is now the drummer of Gary Yerkins band (http://gysongs.com/) and played on Stephen Ashbrook's 2008 album.

TONI CHILDSafter briefly becoming one of many singers for the group Berlin, she formed Toni and the Movers.Later went on solo and released some solo albums since 1988"She has released three full albums and is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" (a Hot 100 hit in the United States in 1988) and "I've Got To Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 1991. In New Zealand she has achieved six Top 40 hit singles and three platinum albums.Her next album coming in 2009(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Childs)

I am not especially into Berlin, but I will download everything and have a listen. It is just incredible how much music and information you compile for the bands you feature. It really makes fun to make up one's own picture of a band with all the stuff you provide. Thank you very much for all your work!

Thanks for this post! I love Berlin but can't seem to find their earlier albums anywhere. The links in the post don't seem to work any more, do you know of anywhere online I can listen to or buy their earlier music (pre-Pleasure Victim?)